A Backwards Spiral
by Aberaz
Summary: The second day of term was already off to a bad start but, when Harry receives a package that sends him back to his parent's days at Hogwarts things are about to get worse. With the marauders avoiding him and Lily suspicious will Harry be able reconnect to the family he never knew and get home in time without revealing their horrible future? Or will he change their world forever?


**First story! Here we go please feel free to correct me on characterization or any errors I may have skimmed over, any critiques would be appreciated! I have everything outlined so updates should be somewhat steady especially if it becomes well received.**

**I don't own Harry Potter**

The Gryffindor common room was a home, a sanctuary, a place where students forgot about their earlier arguments of the day and became a family again, where even the worst of enemies could be seen helping each other with potions homework. Its fireplace and welcoming atmosphere always made the weight on Harry's shoulders seem a bit lighter even if it was only for a moment. It reminded him of games of exploding snap laced with laughter and the soothing silent evenings spent relaxing with his two favorite people in the world after a long day of work and stress. Today however that was not the case. Harry stood awkwardly in the middle of the common room shifting his weight from one foot to the other trying to regain a sliver of comfort but instead the whole place seemed cold and rejecting. He attempted to regain the waves of warmth the room normally gave off, but all he felt were questioning glances, whispers, and slight nausea. Harry never thought twice about other's opinions before, but today he was currently in a well, unique situation, and there was always a first time for everything.

Here he was in the common room with James Potter and a very annoyed James Potter at that, who had been "persuaded" by McGonagall to give Harry a tour of the school, so he didn't accidently get himself killed on his first day. James had looked less than pleased with the suggestion glancing at Sirius while rising from his chair with a groan, rolling his eyes in Harry's direction before sauntering right past Harry and into the hall. He reluctantly started listing some "interesting facts" about their most esteemed school most of which were false but Harry restrained himself from interjecting he was supposed to be a brand new transfer student after all. James currently stood in the middle of the common room with a confident yet apathetic stance and was reciting some of the basics of the house system putting extra emphasis on the achievements of past Gryffindors and the faults of the other houses. James groaned under his breath as he glanced at the scrawny kid in front of him he looked paranoid like someone was going to hex him at any moment and stood out like a sore thumb in the cozy environment because of it. This kid was going to be a pain in the ass he could feel it. James was anxious to get back to his friends even detention was better than this. The kid wasn't even paying attention for Merlin's sake!

Harry looked up to see James glaring at him slightly their eyes meeting for a brief moment, Harry felt his body go tense mentally scolding himself before going back to the walls eyes zipping around the room looking anywhere except James_. 'Just because you can't tell them anything doesn't mean you have to treat them like they're boggarts get a hold of yourself,' _he thought of slipping up about the future and his stomach dropped. True, it was tempting to turn the marauders against Peter or find Alice and Frank to suggest some precautionary therapy sessions just to be on the safe side, but the thought having to look in each of their eyes and tell them exactly what the future had in store made him want to puke. _'Come on Potter look natural at this rate you'll isolate yourself and fail to blend in even more than you already have,' _Harry cringed a bit thinking of his earlier attempts to connect with his new classmates only to find that half the slang he had been using hadn't been invented yet earning him questioning glances and whispers behind his back, he then, of course, had attempted to use proper slang making himself sound like a complete dumbass by calling a first year's potion groovy. _'How was I supposed to know that went out of style right after the 60s' _He sighed, Harry would give nearly anything just to go to sleep already and wake up to find this entire ordeal was just a vision induced by some stray fumes from potions. _'I finally get presented with a chance I've always wanted and all I've done is made a fool out of myself and spill ink on Lupin's transfiguration homework. It would be nice if something went in my favor for once but who am I kidding.'_ Well, it wasn't everyday you get launched back in time against your will fate screwing you over in the process but hey it for sure wasn't the first time.

"Oi, Granger are you even listening to me?" James snapped noting how the boy seemed to cringe at the sound of his name; he was getting impatient and was tempted to run off but if this kid got lost McGonagall would have him polishing trophies for a week. Plus he'd promised to help Moony rewrite the essay, the idiot in front of him had maliciously destroyed. He wished Remus had taken up of his suggestion of having the newbie do it for him_. 'No James we have to make a good first impression'_ the werewolf's voice echoed in his head.

"Huh- er yes of course I'm sorry, please continue," Harry was getting yelled at by his dad, ha first time for everything indeed. Harry smirked humorlessly at that, who would have thought that after all these years of wanting to hear his father's voice that his dad wouldn't even want to give him the honor. James looked him over with a hesitant expression before finally shaking his head and continuing his half-hearted speech a bit more bite in his voice this time. Harry sighed; it was going to be a very long week.

**A/N: there we go, the next chapter will be how Harry gets sent back and will continue chronologically from there on. They should also be a lot longer this was sort of just a short way for me to get the ball rolling. Thanks for reading!**


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